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A flagship Royalties for Regions (RFR) program which was supposed to generate population growth is on the chopping block, with the WA Government saying millions has been spent in communities where the overall population has fallen.

The Super Towns initiative aimed to prepare nine regional communities to grow in line with state forecasts predicting WA's population would double over the next four decades.

But in Esperance a $25 million investment — which included a $20 million redevelopment of the town's foreshore — coincided with a population growth of just 363 people, well below the state average. This translated to $68,870 per new resident.

In Morawa, $3 million was spent revitalising the town's centre — and 15 per cent of its residents packed up and left.

Only two of the towns grew above the state average. Margaret River enjoyed a boom as 1,507 people moved to the town, a 20 per cent jump, while Jurien Bay's population grew by 16 per cent.

Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan said the projects that were funded did not drive growth or jobs.

Since 2008, Royalties for Regions has funded projects worth $6.9 billion in regional WA.(Supplied: Government of WA)

"People aren't going to say 'oh gosh, town X has got a beautiful entry statement, I think I will move there'," she said.

"All of this real gutsy stuff that had to be done was put to one side while they flittered around with local governments doing beautification.

"Beautification is fabulous, but it is not a substitute for real economic development."

However, local leaders said the projects had been valuable for the communities.

"It has had a big impact on our town, not only from a visual and amenity point of view, but also from a tourism and visitor perspective as well," Esperance Shire president Victoria Brown said.

"We've certainly benefited from some of the funding that went into our community."

Nationals leader Mia Davies said the Government was not taking a long-term view.

"It's about laying the foundations and creating the opportunities for the private sector and government to continue to invest and that's what we did," she said.

The Government has warned regional residents of "disappointment" ahead of Thursday's state budget, with a significant number of projects likely to be axed.

Fears over Busselton airport upgrade

One of the McGowan Government's first moves was to launch a review of all outstanding RFR funding commitments made by the previous government.

The hunt to find savings has cast a cloud of uncertainty over a host of regional projects, many of which were already well under way prior to the March state election.

The Mayor of Busselton Grant Henley said the review had delayed parts of a $70 million upgrade at the local airport to help it handle international flights.

The City of Busselton council had identified about $4 million in non-essential works that could be postponed to save the government money, but Mr Henley said he had been advised that could not be done without significantly affecting the project.

He said international consortiums considering investing in the city's foreshore precinct had specifically flagged the uncertainty around the airport project as a reason for their hesitation to commit.

"They've told us that … it's not a very robust economy at the moment, and anything that adds to that fragility is obviously not helpful," he said.

Ms MacTiernan has repeatedly said the airport project would go ahead while making no apologies for trying to get the best value money for taxpayers.

Kojonup seniors left in limbo

Further south, there were concerns about the future of a housing affordability project in the Great Southern to help keep elderly people living in rural areas.

There are more than 40 residents on a waiting list for the units in Kojonup.(ABC News: Ben Gubana)

The project aimed to build 43 seniors living units across nine shires in the region, along with 36 worker accommodation units.

Local shires have pitched in and the Federal Government pledged $10 million, however that was contingent on $11 million from the RFR purse.

John and Christine Berry live in Qualeup, around 40 kilometres east of Kojonup, and want to move closer to town because of Mr Berry's deteriorating health.

John Berry has Alzheimer's and lives in Qualeup with his wife and carer Christine.(ABC New: Ben Gubana)

Mr Berry — who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and recently suffered two heart attacks — said he was worried about what would happen if the project did not go ahead.

"I'll have to stay here and I'll deteriorate over the years and most of the load will fall on my wife Christine," he said.

"At the moment she's my full-time carer and I should hate to think she's going to spend the rest of her life looking after me."

Six units have so far been built in Kojonup, but there is huge demand in town to continue the work — with more than 40 elderly residents on the local waiting list.

The shire said it was unsure whether another three units would be built in town, despite a funding commitment by the previous government.

Not everyone happy in the Pilbara

But there remains concern in some parts of the state over the way the program was administered.

But Ms Davies defended the projects, arguing they had revitalised communities.

"There will always be criticism of projects, but I tell you what I have seen — communities in my electorate and across the state completely changed because of the funding that was made available," she said.

"[RFR] has fundamentally changed regional Western Australia and we will stand by that program every day."